Civilian Memory of the Long March of the Red Army

Author: Zhu Lin / Country:
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: Chicken Soup Casserole
In 1959, my father went to a steel plant in Xingjing as an accountant. Before leaving the mountain village of Minshan Jianshan Commune, the villagers had, at my father's suggestion, gathered all the Red Army stone monuments in the village to Mount Mengding. Although he spent little time in the mountain village, he lived with the landlord family Zhou like family. When it was time to leave, the bond was even harder to sever. The villagers escorted my father all the way down the mountain. The young father dared not look back, afraid of seeing their parting gazes. Only when he reached the county did he glance back at Mount Mengding, sighing inwardly, wondering when he would have the chance to return to Jianshan Commune again.
However, what my father did not expect was that one year later, one day, Uncle Zhou carried a jar of homemade pickles and bean curd from Minshan and walked for a day and a night to Xingjing to find my father. My father was overjoyed, not expecting to meet so soon. The bond between my father and the villagers of Minshan reflects the stories of the Red Army and the people during that time. In Xingjing, farmers took in Red Army wounded, just as seen in today's film and television works—a real scene in Xingjing. The villagers cooked chicken soup for the soldiers, and the Xingjing casserole played a significant role in helping the wounded recover.
To this day, in the village of Yan Dao in Xingjing, stories of villagers sheltering Red Army soldiers are still passed down. A female Red Army soldier, exhausted from continuous marching and combat, had to leave the unit. She became the "daughter" of the local farmers. The hostess went into the mountains to gather herbs and used a casserole to cook a prescription. After nearly a year of treatment and care, the female soldier finally recovered. Since the main force had already departed, she stayed behind to work, hoping one day to return to the front lines. Statistics show that nearly 10,000 Red Army wounded from the First, Second, and Fourth Fronts stayed with local civilians during the Long March.
Xingjing casserole is renowned far and wide. The relatively spacious street in front of us is the second group of Hexi (Heg) Township, the authentic "workshop" of Xingjing casserole. Because it had just rained lightly, there was no dust swirling in the air. The houses on both sides of the road were of a fixed format—two floors with rolling shutters. Even the shop signs used flashy printed artistic fonts, but the casserole styles in front of each door varied.
The house with the sign "Xianjin Casserole Factory" on the side of the road was not yet fully completed—it was the home of a local farmer, Xianjin Zeng. His workshop was behind the store, a standard front-shop-back-workshop setup. Zeng, in his 50s, had been processing casserole for over 20 years. Before 1985, he mainly produced (honeycomb coal stoves), but after that, he began producing casserole and medicine pots of various sizes. While not particularly exquisite, they were durable, and he earned over 10,000 yuan annually. His earnings not only ensured a comfortable life for his family but also supported his children's education. His older daughter has now graduated from Ya'an Agricultural School and found a job.
Zeng took us behind the street to the "Yan Dao Ancient City" cultural relic site, where dense kilns for casserole production surrounded us. Mountains of finished and unfinished casserole pieces were piled up, ready to be shipped to various places for sale. Zhang Dingkang, a 60-year-old man from the first team, has been in this trade for over 30 years. In the past, casserole workshops were collective, but after the reform and opening-up, each household had its own workshop. With fierce competition, the craftsmanship of each workshop has continuously improved. People began experimenting with high-temperature techniques, and every step—from selecting soil, crushing it, shaping, to the final firing—became more refined.
Through years of practice, Zhang Dingkang developed a unique firing style and created his own original products. Among them, his casserole vases were particularly famous. Their shapes differed from ordinary vases, featuring Tang Dynasty-style designs, but the surface adorned with "Two Dragons Playing with a Pearl" carried the legacy of the Han Dynasty. The old man said that this fully handcrafted vase was incredibly intricate. Just for the dragon-shaped decoration, he could only make one piece a day. In his house, he had a glass cabinet displaying several of his finest works. His wife took the key with great care, carefully removing a piece and gently brushing off the dust. She mentioned that someone had once offered 2,000 yuan for it, but the old man was unwilling to sell it.
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